MBP 15" low end or 15" high end?

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pjtoadie

macrumors member
I'm looking to buy either the 15" low end with a hi-res anti glare screen or the 15" high end with the non hi-res glossy screen. This is what my needs are:

-Photo editing in Photoshop and Aperture

-Video editing in either FCP and/or iMovie

-Not much gaming if any

I know the high end model has a better graphics card but the low end with the hi res anti glare screen is better for photographers. My initial thinking is the low end with the better screen. Especially because I won't be gaming much at all. I would have to assume that the low end will give me enough GPU to video edit? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! :)
 
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Low end + 8GB of Aftermarket RAM installed yourself (depending on how much photo/video editing you do).
 
AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR5 memory on 2.0GHz configuration; or AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory on 2.2GHz configuration
 
iPhone1 said:
AMD Radeon HD 6490M graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR5 memory on 2.0GHz configuration; or AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory on 2.2GHz configuration
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Well yeah obviously the graphics are gonna be better in the high end 15" but I was making sure that the low end model would be adequate enough to handle photo and video editing. I'm not looking to play games or work with 3D.
 
I'm having the exact same issue. but what I did to convince myself was compare what I was getting for the money. For $300+ you get,
  • GPU increase, 256mb - 1gb
  • More memory, 500gb - 750gb
  • CPU increase, 2.0ghz - 2.2ghz
I know I will not actually be in need of that much gpu, the cpu increase will be very unnoticeable, and it would be cheaper to buy a faster hard drive somewhere else. So I've decided on the lower end. If you feel those upgrades are worth the money then go ahead. Hope this helped somewhat.
 
pjtoadie said:
Well yeah obviously the graphics are gonna be better in the high end 15" but I was making sure that the low end model would be adequate enough to handle photo and video editing. I'm not looking to play games or work with 3D.
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exactly! everyone on this forum is bashing the 256mb for being too weak for their hardcore gaming needs...not everyone here plays starcraft 2 or Crysis...
 
gofightlose said:
I'm having the exact same issue. but what I did to convince myself was compare what I was getting for the money. For $300+ you get,
  • GPU increase, 256mb - 1gb
  • More memory, 500gb - 750gb
  • CPU increase, 2.0ghz - 2.2ghz
I know I will not actually be in need of that much gpu, the cpu increase will be very unnoticeable, and it would be cheaper to buy a faster hard drive somewhere else. So I've decided on the lower end. If you feel those upgrades are worth the money then go ahead. Hope this helped somewhat.
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Thanks! Yeah I think I'm going with the lower end 15" as well. Just as long as it is enough to run FCP. Seems from the responses and other things I've read that I should be ok.
 
Neolithium said:
Low end + 8GB of Aftermarket RAM installed yourself (depending on how much photo/video editing you do).
Click to expand...

pjtoadie said:
I'm looking to buy either the 15" low end with a hi-res anti glare screen or the 15" high end with the non hi-res glossy screen. This is what my needs are:

-Photo editing in Photoshop and Aperture

-Video editing in either FCP and/or iMovie

-Not much gaming if any

I know the high end model has a better graphics card but the low end with the hi res anti glare screen is better for photographers. My initial thinking is the low end with the better screen. Especially because I won't be gaming much at all. I would have to assume that the low end will give me enough GPU to video edit? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! :)
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Low end is fine
 
Hi all,

I am actually having the same issue, would appreciate if someone could give me some advices. I am planning on buying a 15" MBP soon, but not sure which one is more suitable for me. My usage includes statistical software (SPSS, daily and heavy use), ms office (daily and heavy use, including Access), Photoshop (I don't often use it, but if I do, it's quite heavy), web browsing, little music and movie, no gaming at all. And, in the near future, I will be using 3D scanning (the machine most likely would be NextEngine) for my research (I am a PhD student). The quality of the images is not my main concern since my work is about calculating the 3D area of the images, so I just need a computer which can run smoothly while scanning and calculating. I was wondering in my case if I need a high end 15" with better GPU and CPU, and I will change the 750GB 5400rpm to 500GB 7200rpm, which I think may run faster(?). In terms of RAM and SSD, will upgrade aftermarket.

Thanks in advance!:)
 
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Personally I don't view the gpu as important as some others here do.

I work for a production company and I use a 21.5" iMac with a Nvidia 9400 gpu. I use Final Cut Studio, After Effects and Cinema 4D and have never really run into any major issues with lack of gpu. I say this because the low end 15" gpu should be much better then what I currently have so without a doubt I would say it should work very well for editing and animation. Of course the faster one will be better if you want to get into complex layered compositions in Motion or 3D comps in After Effects. Cinema 4D will slow down as well if you work with high polygon scenes. I'm really talking some high detailed 3D work now. At work we sometimes animate 3D engines with over 100,000 polygons. I'm talking every nut and bolt being a model and even then I can still work with a basic gpu.

Personally I'm holding out to see some benchmarks in the next week or so to see how the gpu's stack up between pro applications.
 
Well I ended up getting the high end 15" with the hi-res anti glare screen :D. I'm already spending a lot of money so I thought just get the high end and then there will be no question on performance needed for what I'll be doing!
 
pjtoadie said:
Well I ended up getting the high end 15" with the hi-res anti glare screen :D. I'm already spending a lot of money so I thought just get the high end and then there will be no question on performance needed for what I'll be doing!
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Damn wish I could do that. I'm already thinking about exchanging to a 15" antiglare from refurb store but keep wondering if I could go up and get the new 15" + AG...
 
I'm kind of in the same boat. I don't play games and I don't use photoshop anymore. I just want a really good computer that will last me a long time. I have been considering a couple of other things too. One is waiting for Lion and the other is waiting to see how the new iMac compares to the new MBP:confused: If I wait for the new iMac, I can get a 2TB HD and a much larger screen... and Lion. I would love to have an Apple laptop, but I don't really need or have to have the portability.
 
Yeah the high res anti glare screen will definitely be better if you are working with photos!
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